Author of Brokeback Mountain is Leaving Seattle Because She Hates Techies and High-Fives

Author Annie Proulx moved to Washington's "Emerald City" just two years ago, but she’s already pulling up stakes. Why? Two reasons: she recently discovered that she’s allergic to the trees surrounding her house. But she’s also sick of all the techies “high-fiving each other” in Seattle.

Proulx is an author who you might know best from the wildly successful big-screen adaptations of her books. She wrote both The Shipping News and Brokeback Mountain, so you can probably guess she’s the outdoorsy type. The lush woodlands of Seattle seemed like a natural fit. But being in Microsoft and Amazon’s backyard didn’t suit her.

“It’s just a place that is more irritating to me than anything else,” Proulx told the Guardian of her experience in Seattle. “It’s one eternal traffic jam and everything seems mismanaged.

“I get tired of seeing people high-fiving each other,” she continued. “It’s full of techies; it’s just bursting with tech people.”

While I certainly empathise with Proulx about hating traffic, I’m not entirely sure that she’s going to find a high-five-free zone in the United States. Especially with every entrepreneurial kid in the country trying to become the next Mark Zuckerberg.

America was built on three things: Invention, slavery, and high fives. And at least a couple of those are in the Constitution.

Proulx admits that she’ll miss being close to her son who works in tech in Seattle. But she’s off to New England. Someone should tell her to steer clear of Boston. I hear they have a high-five epidemic. Maybe she should try Old England. High-fiving about technology seems terribly gauche to Brits.